Boston Business Journal pulled together a list of the 25 biggest gainers in the state for 2017, and five of them are biopharma companies.
Biotech companies in general had a good year in 2017. Massachusetts is one of the big centers for biotech companies, with the San Francisco Bay Area being the other. Boston Business Journal pulled together a list of the 25 biggest gainers in the state for 2017, and five of them are biopharma companies. Here’s a look.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Aveo focuses on cancer. On Nov. 15, the company announced the first commercial launch of Fotivda (tivozanib) with the start of product sales in Germany. The drug is indicated for first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC) in Europe, Norway and Iceland. EUSA Pharma holds the license for the drug in Europe, North and South Africa, Latin America and Australasia.
Since Jan. 1, 2017, company stock has risen 444 percent. Aveo has a market cap of $348 million.
Based in Boston, Pieris focuses on developing Anticalin-based drugs, including immuno-oncology drugs, Anticalins for respiratory diseases such as uncontrolled asthma, and for anemia. It has research-and-development collaborations with AstraZeneca, Servier, Roche, Daiichi Sankyo, Sanofi and others.
On Oct. 2, the company dosed the first patient in its Phase I clinical trial of PRS-343, a first-in-class bispecific antibody-Anticalin fusion protein in advanced or metastatic HER2-positive solid tumors where standard treatment options aren’t available, are no longer effected, are not tolerated, or have been refused by the patient.
Since the beginning of the year, Pieris stock has risen 339 percent. It has a market cap of $275 million.
Headquartered in Needham, Mass., Verastem focuses on discovering and developing drugs for cancer by modulating the tumor microenvironment. On Dec. 10, the company presented results from its Phase III DUO study of duvelisib in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL)) at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2017 Annual Meeting in Atlanta.
“In the Phase III DUO study, oral duvelisib monotherapy achieved a statistically significant improvement in Progression-Free Survival (PFS) versus the approved standard of care treatment ofatumumab, along with a well characterized and manageable safety profile, in patients with previously treated CLL/SLL,” said Ian Flinn, director of the Blood Cancer Research Program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute and lead investigator of the study, in a statement. “Similar PFS advantages were also observed across all analyzed patient subgroups, including patients with 17p deletion, a genotype that historically correlates with poorer clinical outcomes. Duvelisib also achieved a statistically significant improvement in Overall Response Rate (ORR) and significantly reduced lymph node burden in the vast majority of patients. These data are encouraging for patients with CLL/SLL who progress or relapse following initial treatment.”
Verastem stock rose 286 percent this year and has a market cap of $160 million.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., Foundation Medicine offers a portfolio of genomic tests for cancer. On Nov. 30, the FDA approved FoundationOne CDx, the company’s comprehensive companion diagnostic test for solid tumors. It is the first of its kind for all solid tumors. The test evaluates all classes of genomic changes in 324 genes known to drive cancer growth. It is indicated as a companion diagnostic test for patients with specific types of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), melanoma, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer or breast cancer to help identify who may benefit from treatment with one of 17 on-label targeted therapies, including 12 that are approved as first-line therapy.
Company stock has risen 279 percent since Jan 1., and has a market cap of $2.43 billion.
Located in Cambridge, Mass., Alnylam focuses on therapeutics utilizing RNA interference (RNAi). On Nov. 20, the FDA granted the company’s patisiran Breakthrough Therapy Designation for treatment of adults with hereditary transthyretin-mediated ATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy. The company has initiated a rolling New Drug Application (NDA) for the drug and expects the last submission by the end of the year.
And today, the FDA granted the company’s request to amend the orphan drug designation for patisiran for ATTR amyloidosis. “The expansion of the orphan drug designation demonstrates the recognition of ATTR amyloidosis as a broad-spectrum disease impacting multiple body organs and tissue,” said Eric Green, Alnylam’s vice president and general manager of the TTR program, in a statement. “We look forward to completing the NDA submission by year-end and working with the FDA to potentially bring the first FDA-approved RNAi therapeutic to patients living with hereditary ATTR amyloidosis.”
Since Jan. 1, Alnylam stock has grown 250 percent and has a market cap of $12.9 billion.
